Star vs the Sands of Time
by LunaPendragon18
Summary: *Takes place after 'Cleaved'* With Mina's forces destroyed, Marco and Star may finally get to live as normal teens again. But with the cleaving, unrest builds and an ancient foe threatens to destroy all they have struggled to build, the two must set out on one last adventure to unveil the Butterfly family's final secret- that of the First Queen and the Original Cleaving.
1. New World

If this were some fairy tale, it would be said that Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz lived happily ever after, that the cleaving of Mewni and Earth had happened almost seamlessly and the inhabitants of both learned to coexist without difficulty.

But unfortunately, as Star had learned many a time, that is not how life works, people find it difficult accepting their own kind, one can only imagine how hard it would be, to even ponder the idea, of tolerating a whole different world, whose customs and ways threatened their own. The Earth and Mewni both still had hard times ahead.

But for Marco Diaz and Star Butterfly such thoughts were the farthest possible from their minds. At that moment all they could think about was the youth standing before them, battered and beaten and bruised. Their faces covered in grime and the remnants of tears.

They had no idea what had just happened, not to themselves or those of their worlds, they had run to the portal, barely allowing themselves to hope that they might see each other again, that loss would be too great to live through a second time. However, as the light of the explosion faded and Marco forced himself onto his feet, rubbing at the tears that spilled and ignoring the pain that had suddenly began to radiate from his stomach, he saw her.

He saw Star, breathing heavily as if she too had made the impossible sprint to the portal. Her dress was ripped and mud and twigs were caught in her buttercup hair and the horns on her head were uncharacteristically crooked. Marco felt the urge to reach out and arrange them but his body wouldn't move, it refused to, all he could think about was the girl standing before him.

"H-hey." He half stammered, taking a few painful steps towards her, he couldn't hold back the smile that creeped across his face as Marco heard the residents of Echo Creek screaming.

Tears swelled up in Stars eyes as she saw Marco stagger towards her, his one word drowning out the chaos that had conquered her life for so long. She heard the revving of dragon-cycles above her and saw a school bus sveer as it tried to avoid hitting a small group of pig-goats that had wandered onto the road.

"Hi." She said cooly, taking a few steps towards him. Seeing him before her, for the briefest of moments, Star allowed herself to believe that, no matter how much she may have messed up, Marco would be their beside her helping and supporting her as he had been doing all this time. For the first time in a while, although their future seems uncertain, Star could finally see the light at the end of their journey.

But their journey was far from over.

Marco clutched at his stomach, the pain had now become almost numbing, his hand felt warm and sticky were he grabbed at his clothes, but his eyes were only on the girl that was now running towards him, his vision blaring until all he could see was black.

"Marco!" screamed Star, running towards the collapsing boy, grabbing him and holding his head against her chest before he could hit the ground. His face felt feverishly hot against her palms and his hand was covered in blood.

What had happened?

What was going on?

Where was all this blood coming from?

It had begun to seep into her dress as she carefully tried to lay him on the ground.

"Someone!" she shrieked, fresh tears running down her cheeks, her voice croaking, "Someone! Please help him!"

But as she yelled for help and her mind asked questions she had no answers for Star's hands began to work, carefully trying to unzip Marco's hoodie to reveal the source of the blood. She cringed as she removed it to see the crimson disaster that was spreading across his grey t-shirt. Her hands too, were covered in blood, Marco's blood. Marco's life was being sapped away by this ever growing crimson flower. With shaking hands she lifted his t-shirt slightly to reveal the cause.

Star gasped, so surprised with what she saw that she almost raised her bloodied hands to cover her mouth. The wound was deep and bleeding unrelentlessly as if Marco had been stabbed by something long and sharp.

What had happened?

Star shook her head, she could hear faint footsteps behind her and people calling her name but all she could was think was;

When had this happened?

Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and tried to pull her to her feet.

"No!" she shrieked grabbing at the blood stained shirt , and covering the wounds with her hands, as if that alone would stop the bleeding. "Let me go!"

All she could see was Marco's face becoming paler and paler, the blood seeping through her fingers.

This time the hands on her shoulder gripped her more tightly and with a strength she would almost call demonic she was lifted off the ground and onto her feet.

"No!" she screamed, her eyes never leaving her collapsed best friend. "Let go of me!"

"Star!" At last one of the voices reached her, shaking her slightly out of her daze. She blinked back the tears and saw two figures now kneeling besides Marco's body. They were tearing at their dresses and carefully placing leaves over the wound.

"Mum? Eclipsa?" The words came out in barely a whisper as she felt the grip on her shoulders tighten. Star finally forced her eyes away from the ground and up to who had gotten her back on her feet. Three eye-liner smudged eyes looked down at her.

"Tom?" She whispered, the adrenaline draining from her system and the exhaustion of the last few days hitting her like a stampeding warnicorn. She pounded at his chest weakly leaving fist shape stains on his shirt, blood… Marco's blood...

"Let me go!" She cried but her voice was weak and all the strength had been lost, she couldn't escape Tom's grip. He pulled her into what, under normal circumstances, would have been a awkward embrace, but she buried her face into his chest and sobbed, too tired to struggle any further.

"He's going to be ok." Whispered Tom though, even as prince of the Underworld, he could make no promises.

**And that's the first chapter! What do you guys think? feel free to drop a review, I always love to hear from you and I'll get back to you with a new chapter ASAP. Thank you so much for reading! until next time- Luna Pendragon**


	2. Angela

Marco could barely remember the last time he had felt this relaxed, as he looked up at the sky and allowed the sunbeams to warm his face. He could hear birds singing amongst the trees and the scent of spring was in the air. Children were playing in the nearby park and the sound of traffic was just a distant drone.

"Now this is the life." Smiled Marco looking down at the girl that had fallen asleep against his shoulder. Star butterfly, the same girl that had been compared to a natural disaster, looked peaceful in her sleep. Her horned headband on her lap, her golden hair tangled by the wind. Her breathing let out the tiniest of snores, a little pool of spit had formed around the side of her mouth, and had begun to wet Marco's sleeve. She was too adorable for words. After all the chaos and mayhan the two of them had been through such days were treasures.

Marco returned his gaze to the startling blue sky as a cloud briefly cast a shadow over them.

"I wish this would never end." Murmured Star.

"Totally agree th…" but the rest of the sentence died on his lips as he looked back down at Star. She still sat there, leaning comfortably against his shoulder, her blue eyes looking out at the scenery before them. But something had changed, her hair, which moments ago had been free to fly with the wind, was now tied into a braided headband with small, red periwinkle flowers braided into it. The horns upon her lap had also vanished and her blue narwhal dress had been replaced but a rather medieval looking damask red and gold dress.

"Cedric? Is something wrong?" Star looked up at him but although she looked like Star her accent had also changed.

"When did you change your clothes? And whose Cedric?" However as Marco spoke, he barely recognised his own voice, his accent too had changed to match Star's. He jumped to his feet as he looked down at his own attire. He was now wearing dark brown trousers and a maroon jacket that felt unpleasant and heavy. As he moved he felt the scabbard of a sword hit his thigh.

"What's the matter, Cedric?" Star looked both mad and concerned as she picked herself up, Marco's sudden movements had caused her to fall sideways into the grass, leaving a soil mark on one of her cheeks.

"Ahh Star?! What's going on here? And why do you keep calling me Cedric? Its Marco, remember? Mar-ko!"

Star let out a half concerned lough, "Have you drunk from merlin's mushroom stew again? You are Marco as much as I am this Star you just named me. I'm Dealan-dé."

"_**Dealan-dé**_?' Marco whispered, what in the world was going on?what kind of name was that?

The scene shifted before he could ask anything else.

It felt to Marco as if he were now back in the magic realm, but not the beautiful gold realm that stole memories, but the one stained by Darkness and cleaved worlds. He could barely move and his mind swam. He couldn't remember how he had gotten there or what had happened. He closed his eyes, the dark water he floated in was comfortably warm and it was surprisingly peaceful.

"Dealan-dé?" He whispered, an image of a girl that looked like Star filled his mind, her laugh had even sounded just liked Star's...

"Star!" He gasped this time, as he saw her running towards him behind his closed eyelids, where was Star?

Concern brought him into action, he tried to sit up, the liquid around him defying all the laws of physics as he did so, but he didn't get further then that, his limbs refused to support him as he staggered.

"Star!" he called, straining his eyes against the dim light of the world, if Star was in this world he had to find her, even if he had to drag himself!

"She is not here." A voice washed over him like a warm breeze, Marco had no words to describe it, it felt so ethereal that no words in any language could. He blinked and standing before him was a woman who appeared as mystical as the voice had sounded. She was painfully pale with large, deep violet eyes and short, curly lilac hair. She wore a white lace dress with a simple satin indigo sash around her slender waist.

"Whoa!" he breathed, that was the extent of Marco's freak out at the time, it was like the barest of sounds, or the briefest of movements would cause the woman to vanish.

"Marco Diaz?" The woman tilted her head slightly to the side, her curls bouncing against her face, her eyes running over the boy as if she were inspecting more than just his outer appearance.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Marco cringed as he answered. For months he'd lived amongst royalty, he'd stood amongst some the strongest women on Mewni but none could compare to the mysterious women before him, not because of any power he sensed from her, it was something else entirely, another thing Marco couldn't describe all too eduquity at the time.

"The prince of the princess's deepest desire." Marco flinched again as he recognized the line from Star's Princess Song. "Marco Diaz, a friend to both Mewmans and monsters alike. The first _human_ to ever wield the Royal Magic Wand."

"Ok… that's a little creepy." Marco tried to stand but realised that he still couldn't move much from the neck down, as if he'd eaten some Yada-Yada berries but they had failed to turn his whole body to stone.

"You have no need to fear." The woman continued, as if noticing the teen's mental struggle, "your life is not at peril at the moment, your body rests while I speak with you soul."

"That's reassuring.' Muttered Marco. "Could you explain how my life was in peril, again? And, if you don't mind, who you are and what was up with that weird dream while you're at it?."

"You were stabbed by a warnicorn, were you not?"

" Yes, but when I got back to Earth it was gone!"

"And since then the two worlds have been reunited, and what you left in Mewni has been returned to you."

Marco shivered at her words, remembering Star running towards him, he must have made her worried sick!

As he thought this the water around him began to ripple and the land began to shake as if hit by an earthquake.

"What's going on?" He yelled turning his attention back to the woman but as the world continued to shake, the faint glow he hadn't even realised she had been emitting began to dim.

"You are returning to the world of the waking a lot swifter than I had hoped." She sounded unphased. "Marco Diaz you must learn of the Original Cleaving."

"The Original Cleaving? Lady you make as much sense as Glossyrick!" Marco yelled. "Stop with the riddles and tell me!"

"I can't, you must discover the answers yourself, it's the only way!"

"The only way to do what?" Marco was practically screaming.

"Remember, to cleave has more than one meaning." The woman ignored his question as she all but flickered out of existence.

"What was with that dream I had? Was it a dream? It felt too real."

"Memories." was her hushed reply.

"Not helpful!" Marco yelled, trying to stand but falling to one knee before the lady. He looked up at her vague form. " Who were those two? Why did they look like Star and me?"

However the women before him made no motion to answer that question, her appearance becoming less corporal with each second that passed.

"At least tell me your name?!" begged Marco as the woman vanished from his sight.

"Angela Butterfly." Whispered the wind, the women had disappeared as mysteriously as she had appeared but where her face had been, like the imprints left on the insides of your eyelids after looking at the sun for too long, where two mysterious marks, each one looking suspiciously like a feathered wing.

**And that's the second chapter done! Thanks so much for reading and feel free to drop a comment, i always love to hear from you (for better or worse XD). Until the next chapter- LunaPendragon**


	3. Friction

"_And here's Clio Mandez with the latest on the Duel World Crisis."_

"_Thank you! It's been under 24 hours since what people are calling the Duel World Crisis started. A normal tuesday afternoon was turned upside down when, at 3:13 pm, buildings, people and, what some claim to be, monsters, began to appear, randomly across the globe. _

"_Reports of flying motorcycles , talking pigeons and, believe it or not, unicorns, have been flying in from all corners. The internet has crashed with the amount of uploads being sent across social media of these creatures that once belonged solely to myths and legends. _

"_However, citizens of Earth cannot seem to understand what is happening and have taken to the streets protesting for these outsiders to be sent back to their own world;_

"We barely had enough space on this planet for our own people, now we have to share it with some foreigners? Why?"

"It's for the children, it's always been for the children! It's traumatizing at such a young to witness severed heads floating in the air! The streets are no longer safe either, in the last few hours two children have already gone missing from my town. They may look like magical creatures but they are dangerous and wild!"

"In all my years in the medical field i've never seen a diseases spread so fast! Hospitals are filling with this unidentified pathogen, even the medical stuff are dropping like flies! If we don't find a cure soon we may face an epidemic that rivals even the Black Plague!"

"_These were just some of the concerned videos sent out ways. _

"_Having recognised the threat that has fallen on our world's lap, the UN has called on a meeting along with representatives of Mewni, the world that has been merged with ours: Queen Eclipsa Butterfly, King Rock Johanson, King Pony Head, Queen Wrathmelior Lucitor, Regent Sally Kelpbottom, Prince Richard Pidgeon, Queen Amanda Spiderbite, King Raptir Jaggy and, representing the monsterfolk, Glabgor. The aim of such debates can undoubtedly be to find the root cause of this Crisis and how we may overcome it. _

"_With me today is Professor Andreas Cini, lead historian at the University of Mystical Antiquity who claims that this may not be the first time such a Duel World Crisis may have occurred."_

"_First of its pronounced Chi-Ni…"_

The hospital television flickered off, no one wanted to hear any more of that. At that moment the worlds could solve their own problems, it would survive a few hours without a couple of exhausted teenagers helping out.

Marco woke up to an unfamiliar beeping noise and the smell of antiseptic. He had no idea where he was, his surroundings were unfamiliar and his mind was still swimming from the rollercoaster his dreams had taken him through.

He tired to move but he noticed a collection of pipes running from his hand to what appeared to be a drip. As his mind cleared, he could feel a numbed pain from his stomach where he had been stabbed by a warnicorn. From the corner of his eye he could just make out the black and green screen, whose irritating beeping proved he was still amongst the living. He must have been taken to a hospital.

Careful not to open his own wound again he tried to sit up but he felt something heavy pulling at the side of his hospital gown. Carefully he turned his attention to the source and instantly the heart monitor began to race. Somehow, squeezed onto the hospital bed besides him, her face nestled in his shoulder (much like the girl in his dream had been) and her two hands gripping his sleeve as if she feared he'd escape her during her sleep, was Star.

The heart monitor continued to race so severely Marco half wondered how doctors and nurses hadn't rushed in to check on him. But as he continued to look at her sleeping face, confirming without doubt this was actually _his_ star, the beeping began to slow and a soft smile spread across his face.

"If you stare at her for two more minutes I think I'm legally allowed to call you a creep."

Marco jumped, not expecting someone else to be in the hospital room with them. He adjusted his view to see past Star and, sitting in an uncomfortable looking plastic chair, was Tom!

He'd changed his clothes and his eyeliner had been remade but the bags under each eye told Marco that the Prince of the underworld had not slept recently.

"How long have I been out?" sighed Marco, adjusting himself so he could see Tom more comfortable but allowing Star to sleep a little longer

"Almost 24 hours." Sighed Tom, rubbing his tired eyes. "Eclipsa and Moon performed first-aid but they then argued with your parents who wanted you to get treated at a human hospital. Any longer and you would have bled out there and then, so I took you to the Underworld."

"Underworld? And my parents were okay with that?"

"Marco, my eyes glow and I can shoot fire from my hands, people don't usually argue with me"

Marco let out a soft laugh. "Thanks Tom!"

But Tom averted his eyes for a moment, "No Marco, I should be thanking you. That injury, that's from a Warnicorn right? You got that while saving me."

Marco bit the inside of his mouth. "So you remembered that, huh?"

Tom shook his head, "No, but I can do the math."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the two.

"Well, I did flip a horse." Marco gave Tom a sheepish grin. "That probably didn't help either."

"Dude! You flipped a horse, that will never be uncool."

And just like that, the tension in the room lifted slightly. Marco turned his attention to the rest of the room.

"So this is what an Underworld hospital room looks like? It's actually pretty normal."

"Your mum said the same thing." Said Tom, leaning back into his chair. "What did you guys expect? Skeletons and brimstone?"

"Well this is the Under … Wait! Did you say Mum? She was here?"

"Still is, and it's not just her…"

"Marco!" Marco nearly jumped 2 feet off the bed in surprise as he heard his name being called. Standing in the doorway, holding portable mugs of coffee and plenty of chocolate bars, were his mum and dad, little Mariposa securely strapped to his father's chest. His reaction must have woken Star to sit up quickly, a dazed look still in her eyes as her hands made defensive karate gestures similar to those that Marco usually made.

"Stay back ruffians!" she mumbled still asleep. But the Diaz's momentarily ignored her as they ran towards their son, embracing him so tightly he flinched at the pain.

"Marco!" cried Rafael, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks and landing on his daughter's little head, who squealed equally as excited.

"You had us so worried." weeped Angie, running a finger down her son's cheek as if checking if he was ok.

"Sorry about that." Was Marco's sheepish reply as he let Mariposa grab at his index finger.

"Marco!" This voice shrieked so loudly that both Marco's ears rang and then he was hit with the force of a shooting star, almost tumbling out of bed as a result."Marco you're awake!"

Star must have finally snapped out of her daze.

"Star!" he almost protested as he felt stitches around his wound stretching uncomfortably but the protest instantly as he looked down at the girl who was embracing him with an iron grip, as if challenging anyone to try take him away from her again. Tears only Marco could see where smudged against his gown.

"It's ok Star, i'm ok now, promise." The injured boy put an arm around her and returned the hug as best he could.

"You had me so worried." She sounded mad but Marco knew that was just a cover.

"I know, i'm sorry Star." He said looking down at her as she quickly rubbed at her tears.

She leaned up towards him as if to kiss him but then her face became flushed and she looked away, coughing in embarrassment. Marco felt his own cheeks flush as the beeping of the heart monitor began to race erratically again and also tried to deviate his gaze, this audience was just too large.

Another cough from the back of the room directed everyone's attention away from the blushing couple.

"Mum!" squealed Star, causing the bad to jump as the former queen of Mewni appeared in the doorway along with River. Strapped to her chest was a cooing Meteora.

"Marco, my boy!" River Johanson's deep chuckle would have put any Santa Claus to shame as he walked towards the boy and slapped him on the back, causing a fresh pain to erupt, "it's good to see you up and about again."

"Yes," agreed Moon, walking towards the side of the bed besides her husband. Meteora gave Marco the stink eye but waved gleefully at Mariposa. 'We were all rather distraught."

"But it's thanks to you and Ecliposa's that the creepy skelton doctors said he made it." Angie smiled up at the taller woman.

"Well it was the least I could do." But Moon's cheeks blushed slightly in embarrassment at the compliment. "After all the help Marco has been, it was nothing."

"Where is Eclipsa?" asked Star, as she patted Meteoria's head fondly.

"She and the other rulers of Mewni have converged with the leaders of Earth To try grab this new situation by the horns before it gets out of hand."

"Horribly dull talking business." Complained River, "They've been there for hours!"

"Tell me about, I'm utterly pooped!"

"Eclipsa!" squicked Star, as the newest visitors walked into Marco's already cramped hospital room. Eclipsa and Glabgor, much like the rest of his visitors, looked utterly knackered but unlike the others, they were dressed in their finishest clothes so they looked like a totally exhausted royal couple.

"Oh baby, mummy has sorely missed you." Eclipsa walked up to her daughter and cupped her chubby cheeks fondly as Glabgor put an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Is the meeting finally over?' asked Moon, removing Meteora from her harness and handing her to her mother.

"For now." signed Glabgor, greeting his daughter. "We are to meet again in the morning."

Eclipsa let out a frustrated breath. "It's like we are back in Mewni during my mother's reign. The humans are terrified stiff of us, most left the room screaming when they saw King pony head and I swear I smelled soiled undergarments when Prince Pidgeon spoke."

"Yes, I can see how uncustomed humans would see them as a little bizarre." Admitted Angie.

"Poppycock!" blurted out River, "the Diaz's and the people of Echoe Creek accepted us without any fuss."

"Yeah, but Echoe Creek believed a clown would rise from the dead after 100 year, so I wouldn't use it as a standard of normal." Countered Marco.

"And it didn't hurt that the Butterflies look human and only visited in small numbers." Agreed Eclipsa, "a handful of visitors wouldn't turn many heads."

"But a whole world's populace wouldn't go unnoticed." Added Glabgor. "They are even suggesting segregation of the two worlds!"

"It might be a good idea for now." Tom put in. "Gives everyone a chance to get used to their new neighbours."

Marco sat back in his pillows, groaning under his breath, his head beginning to hurt. There were just too many problems to wrap his head around, and something inside him nagged that he was partially to blame. He felt a soft hand grab his own and turned to see Star smiling softly at him, for that smile alone, he would cause this mayhem again and again.

"Actually, Star? Moon? Queen Eclipsa? can I ask you something?" blurted out Marco, remembering.

"What's the matter?" asked Star sitting up so Marco could see the three Butterfly woman more easily.

"Random question, but does the name Angela Butterfly mean anything to you?" he felt silly talking about that dream woman in front of so many people but something told him that she was more than that.

"Never heard of her." Admitted Star looking up at her mother and the queen.

The two older women shared a look but looked just as confused. "I can't say it does." started Eclipsa.

"Where did you hear that name?" added Moon.

"Oh it's probably nothing." Admitted Marco sheepishly. "Might have been from all the meds but I had a weird dream and the name kinda just popped up. Thought she might be a related to you guys."

"She is." It was Glabgor who spoke, startling the royals.

"Do you know her, my love?" Eclipsa looked up at her husband, intrigued.

"I don't know much I'm afraid, for I was still very young. It was back when the first Mewman's had settled in Mewni…

"Oh! I sometimes forget just how much older you are then me." Giggled Eclipsa slyly, earning her a bewildered look from Moon.

"Go on!" urged Star, intrigued by this piece of mysterious history.

"Well, like i said, I only saw her once and I was still very young but I believe she was the first queen of Mewni." continued Glabgor.

"The first queen!" Star's eyes darted between Eclipse and Moon's shocked faces. "How is it that none of us know the first queen's name?"

"Oh Star, that was over 1000 years ago!" Tried to explain Moon. "And it doesn't help that the original Book of Spells was lost as well."

"Or the Book Worm infestation of 342 that ate most of the original records."Added Eclipsa, shivering at the thought.

"What!" shouted Star, "you mean to tell me that the book I lost wasn't even the original book of spells?"

"Of course not deary." Laughed Eclipsa lightly. "Didn't you think it strange that although your mother was the 36th Queen of Mewni, the book of spells only went back 13 Queens?

"Come to think of it, you do have a point." Star eyes widened at the revelation.

"Glabgor, is there anything else you remember about her? Anything to do with a Cedric or Dealan-dé?" almost begged Marco, earning him a suspicious look from Star.

"Sadly, no." The crimson monster shook his head. "The rumour amongst the monsters was that the had defeated a great foe, using the Magic Wand and earned herself the title of Queen, but that's all."

"Why the sudden interest in this women, hmmm?" Star queeried, crossing her arms, and pushing her face way too close to his.

Marco fell back into his pillows, a fresh wave of tiredness washing over him.

"I just got this feeling... our job's not ready yet."

**And that's another chapter done and dusted! thank you so much for reading and feel free to drop a review (especially if the story is getting boring). I'll update ASAP, see you then! -Luna Pendragon**


	4. Living Arrangements

"Okay people! Put on your serious faces!" Star slammed her palms on the old teacher's desk, stale chalk dust flying into her face as she tried to catch her audience's attention.

"Girl!" Pony Head shrieked, flying into Star's face and hyperventilating, "what is this place? Some Earth branch of St O's? I can just feel the individuality being sapped out of me! Oh! also," Added Pony Head suddenly much more calm, hovering a safe distance away from her friend's face. "What's with all the Earth turds?"

"I argue that statement!" Ferguson yelled, raising his hand.

"I second that motion!"Alfonzo shouted, also raising his hand.

"For the gazillionth time," sighed Star, massaging her brow as she urged herself to be patient. "Pony Head this is a school, all kids on earth have to go, even if it is soul suckingly boring. Ferguson, I'm not a teacher. You don't have to put up your hand to talk. Alfonzo, that didn't even make any sense and honestly… I don't even want to know why you got that with you Jenna."

"Trust me Star." cooly answered Jenna, raising the baseball bat she had been polishing almost obsessively since starting the meeting. "We have some of the most influential youths from Mewni in this one room, if an angry mob swarms us you'll thank me for getting Bessie."

"Bessie?" cooed Rich Pidgeon from where he sat on one the tube lights hanging over their heads.

"I never should have asked." Star banged her head against Me Skullnick's desk, as a blotch of pigeon dropping landing on an unsuspecting Tammy's head.

"I don't understand why you called us to school on a saturday from all days, Star Flatterfly. I have a mani-pedi booked at 2, so make it quick." Brittney complained as she inspected her nails against the artificial lighting.

"Now there's a girl that gets it!" Agreed Pony Head, nodding her head vigorously.

"Of coarse, you two get along." Star didn't even bother correct Brittany.

"Ms Star?"

"For the last time I'm not a teacher!" shrieked Star, looking up to see who had addressed her this time. It was Oskar, unphased by her frustration he continued to play a few notes on his keytar

"Is everything ok with Mango?" The boy casually pointed to the back of the classroom where Marco was mumbling, rather insanely, to himself as he wrote words and stuck pictures to a board along with lots of coloured rope, much like a conspiracy theorist would.

"Ignore him." sighed Star, " He's still in recovery."

It had been two days since Marco had been discharged from the Underworld hospital and, although he was still on medication and his stitches where still healing, he had jumped head first into this Angela Butterfly mystery, much to Star's annoyance.

"C'mon guys!" the nasally voice of StarFan13 caught most of the class's attention, "If Star called us all here it's got to be important!"

"At last! Thank you!" Star was almost jubilant to have everyone's attention again.

"Tik, tok." whispered Brittany, causing Star to grind her teeth.

"Ok, long story short it's up to us to make sure the integration of Mewni and Earth goes as smooth as butter."

"But why us?" butted in Jenna, " Other then you royals we aren't the most important teens on Earth, no one gives a dime what we think."

"Exactly! You are all perfectly standard human teenagers, just what we need! It's not important if you are royalty or not! What matters is that you are humans through and through!" Said Star proudly pounding her fist against her chest. If this were some comedic cartoon, the national anthem would begin playing as a flag fluttered in the distance.

"Also, we couldn't get an audience with any of the Earthling royal teens." added Tom, walking into the classroom, munching away at a packet of crisps, ignoring the deadly glare Star sent him.

"Okay , I'm so out of here." Britney loudly pushed her chair back and made for the door.

"No! You cannot leave yet, we haven't done anything!" yelled Star, running to block the door

"I'm sorry Star but I've got homework to get done for monday." Ferguson added, standing from his seat

"And we got that D&D game tonight, too!" jumped in Alfonso.

"Don't you think this is a little more important than mani-pedis and homework?" Star was almost pulling at her hair now, how could none of them understand the situation they were all in?

"Oh I'm sorry princess, but just because you and that loony, Marco, messed up, doesn't mean the rest of us need to put our lives on hold." and with those seething words, Brittney barged passed the stunned Star, followed by a group of rather apologetic looking humans.

"Next week, same time?" chipped in StarFan13 before she too left the classroom.

"Good riddance!" yelled out Pony Head havering towards Star, "load of earth turds, we don't need them! Who does she think she is talking to my girl Star like that?!"

"Yes we do." sighed Star, Brittany's words hitting a nerve that had been bothering her for some time now. "If we can't even get half a classroom to get along how are we going to work with the whole planet?"

"You can't rush these things." added Tom, putting a comforting, and yet awkward hand on her shoulder."Everyone needs time and space."

"I know it's probably in your genes to have to save everyone but I'd let the head honchos deal with this one." Jenna put in, also walking towards her, Rich Pigeon sitting on her shoulder.

"I can't just leave it in Eclipsa and Glabgor's hands!"

"We don't have much choice, things work that way here on earth."Jenna then put her hands around Tom's and Ponys Head's necks and began leading them out of the room . "Better see to the problems a little closer to home, don't you think?" gesturing with her eyes to the back of the room.

"Marco!" yelled Star, as the remainder of the teenagers left the room, all her anger and frustration going into that one name. The other teen seemed quite oblivious to the situation as he continued to mumble to himself.

"Marco!" she yelled again, shoving his shoulder to finally get his attention.

"Star!" A little annoyance at being interrupted krept into Marco's voice.

"A little help out there would have been nice!" she complained gesturing to the now empty class.

"You said you would be fine."

"Don't you know when a girl says she's fine, she's anything but fine?"

"How was I meant to figure that out?" He protested, shrugging her hand off.

"Oh I don't know?! If you weren't so preoccupied with this Angela Butterfly nonsense to read the room you might have realised I needed some help out there."

"It's not nonsense!" he countered, though her voice faltered. "I have a feeling, in my gut, it's telling me we need to find out about this first queen and what she meant by the First Cleaving."

"Of course you have a weird feeling in your gut! You were stabbed by a warnicorn!"

"Star I can't understand why you are fighting me right now!" shouted Marco, throwing his hands up in the air, exasperated.

Star let out a shaky breath, his worlds knocking it out of her as she slumped her shoulders and leaned against the board Marco had been fussing with all morning. Two names caught her attention- Cedric and Dealan-dé. Another mystery within the mystery.

"I don't know why I'm taking this out on you." She admitted, running her hand through her hair. The two stood in silence, Star looking at her feet as Marco looked up at his board. "I had hoped, with Mina out of the way you and me could start doing normal teenager stuff again.. Or normal girlfriend/boyfriend things even."

There was a pause, each one deep in their own thoughts.

"It's not your fault." Marco finally whispered.

Star raised her head, signalling she didn't really follow what Marco was saying.

"This whole cleaving business and what Brittany said...it's not your fault and its not mine. Neither one of us jumped back into the magic realm wanting this."

"Doesn't mean we aren't to blame."

"Do you…" Marco paused, not sure if he wanted to hear her answer. "Do you ever regret it?"

"Never." was Star's instant reply, leaning forward and kissing her boyfriend. "I'd do it over anytime, without changing a thing."

"Not being stabbed by a warnicorn would be nice though." observed Marco as Star led him out the classroom, giggling.

"Oh I don't know." she laughed, "you looked rather handsome in that hospital gown."

The diaz family was filled to exploding that evening, as it had been ever since Marco had been discharged. With their homes practically destroyed during the Mina incident there weren't many options where the BUtterfly family could stay. The Lucitor family had graciously offered, but although their health care was first class, it was no place a surface dweller would like to stay, indefinitely. And so every room in the Diaz's home was occupied. Marco's room had been offered to Moon and River, while Star's room, which had already been converted into a nursery, slept not only the babies but also Meteora's parents. The Diaz's, upon Marco and Star's insistence, had kept their own room, leaving the living room sofa and a sleeping bag to them. A cheeky grin from Eclipsa had not help their argument.

But with a promise of 'no shenanigans' to their parents, they came to agree with their idea, it being the most convenient sleeping arrangement.

"Hurry Marco!" Whispered Star, practically jumping in her seat, her eyes darting to the clock that hung on one of the walls.

"You cannot rush perfection." He joked from the kitchen, as he brought two bowls of sugar seeds draped in milk.

"But the movie's going to continue!" Star pulled the blanket over her head in excitement.

"You really are loving this film, aren't you?" laughed Marco, sitting down as he carefully placed both bowls on the coffee table before them.

"What's not to love? It's got magic, flying brooms and chocolate frogs!"

"You'll be overjoyed to know there are seven more films, then… hey watch it!" At the mention of the sequels, Star's eyes widened, as she almost spilled the cereal all over Marco.

"Seven more…?" she whispered.

"Shhhh!" Marco nudged her playfully as he took a spoonful of cereal. "I think it's starting."

Star eeped with enthusiastic only let out a groan when she realised it was yet another news clip, the intermission had been littered with them.

"My research is paramount" A rather fit man, in adventuring clothes and an italian accent was speaking. "As my research progresses we have discovered 4 locations of similar architecture that does not match any era in human history! I have come to believe they are, in fact, of Mewni origin!"

The man was sitting before a massive screen which showed a stone facade that looked, particular similar to the ruin Marco and the others had found under Bretta's taco's, seeing the engraving of Glossyrick did not fail to dampen their mood..

"Our latest discovery was on the island of Malta, long fabled to be the site of Calypso's cave from greek mythology. Like in the other three locations this finding indicates that Earth has at least communicated with Mewni in the past and I believe, finding the remaining locations and deciphering the possible writing upon them may be the push needed to stabilize relations between the two worlds."

As the man spoke, the image behind him zoomed in on a particular section of the facade that showed unusual symbols neatly carved in a line.

Star snorted besides Marco. "Oh that's easy!" she laughed, her eyes scanning the screen."It's basic Mewman."

"Really? What does it say?" Marco asked, intrigued.

Star's eyes scanned the screen for a moment and, with ease said "_Darkness true form the First did whelm_\- Wow! now that's ominous!"

"Wait.. did you say 'the First'?" Marco almost jumped to his feet, Star actually doing so as she realised his train of thought.

"You don't think that means…"

"Angela Butterfly? It's too convenient to be a coincidence."

"We need to talk to this guy. See if the other places he's found don't hold any more clues!" Star was pacing, their cereal forgotten on the coffee table.

"Already ahead of you." exclaimed Marco, copying the man's name that was written on the screen. "Bingo! Andreas Cini, professor of mythical antiquity! He's got a website and everything… and an e-mail! Double bingo!" but then marco looked up from his smart phone screen. "He's not going to take an email sent by a couple of teens any seriously though."

"He will if we offer him something he can't say no to." A sly smile spread across Star's face.

"Like a Mewman remains he hasn't found yet!" proclaimed Marco, already typing frantically.

"Or a Mewman willing to help translate what's written." She sat back on the sofa, feeling triumphant

"You're a genius!" laughed Marco.

"I know." laughed back Star, winking at him and she wrapped the blanket around her until she looked like a comfortable burrito.

Marco finished typing and pressed send."Star Butterfly, I really love you right now."

"I know that too." she said smugly, putting her head on his lap and turning her attention back to the screen. "Now hush, the movie'sreally starting!"


	5. Crowd

"Marco…" Star half-snored into her pillow as her mind wondered the thin line between dreams and waking. She was half flying through a rainbow filled sky eating nachos, half struggling against the blanket cocoon she'd waddled herself into. She rolled over on the sofa, her wild bed-hair tickling her nose as she somehow managed to free a hand from her blankets.

"Marco…" she mumbled again, her eyes still closed, as she raised her hand slightly and allowed it to slam into something soft.

"Gah! Five more minutes, Star." Marco rolled over, allowing the hand that had just hit him in the face to swing harmlessly between the two of them, his sleeping bag rustling with the movement.

"The alarm... " Star mumbled.

"There's no alarm." Marco brought his sleeping bag up to his nose. "It's sunday."

Star stopped in her dream, midway through her nachos and paused to listen, the strange irritating drone she had assumed was coming from Marco's alarm, was that just coming from her own imagination?

She almost shrugged it off when there was a sudden yelp, followed by the shattering of glass and something hard crashing to the ground.

Both teens shot up, or tried to anyway. In her blanket burrito Star fell back onto the sofa while Marco struggled with the sleeping bag at his feet.

"What was that?!" yelled Marco, instantly alert, his eyes adjusted to the morning light that filled the living room. To his bafflement, shards of glass were spread across the living room floor, some had even landed on his sleeping bag. A rock the size of his fist sat amongst the chaos, with a clear message written in red- _Go home._

Star tried to blink away the sleep as her eyes focused on her surroundings, her ears picking up the sound she had initially thought was the alarm. With the gaping hole in the window, the sound was a lot clearer.

"Send them back! Send them back! Send them back!" Those three words chorised into the building with a force that finally woke everyone.

"Star! Marco!" There was the pounding of feet from above as Rafael and River began to run down the stairs.

"Dad!" both Marco and Star yelled.

"Get the babies away from the windows!" Marco ordered, quickly understanding what was going on.

Cautiously, Star took a step towards the rock. Marco put a hand in front of her, as if to stop her. But, trance-like and perplexed, she walked passed him, only slowing when she reached the glass, threading carefully over it in her socks. She knelt down and picked up the rock.

"Go home." it said and her eyes rose to the scene that stained the window and darkened that sunny morning. A crowd of people filled the street in front of the Diaz's home. People Star had never seen before, shouting the words 'send them back' with boards in their hands that said similar things. Their rage and fury was almost palpable.

"Star!" Get back here!" Marco begged, also crossing the glass and pulling Star to safety away from window.

"Protesters?' Angie was was standing at the top of the staircase, a crying Mariposa in her hands, Eclipsa looked just as miffed beside her with Meteora. Thank goodness it seemed that the nursery had not been targeted.

"What is the meaning of this?" called Moon, running down the stairs as she tied her dressing gown around her waist.

"Anti-Mewman protestors? Glabgor had also run down the stairs to join River and Rafael. "How did they find out we were here?'

"Anti-Mewman protestors?" Star repeated, looking up at the monster.

"Yes well… us being here hasn't been liked by all that many people." Started Moon.

"But Echoe Creek? This is a safe place, I can't imagine anyone from here joining that cause." Rafael looked solemnly at the group that had gathered before him, all in their pajamas, woken in the worst horrible manner.

"Where are the police?" Marco began, trying to peek through peephole of the front door, only to see that the protestors had made it all way to their yard, they would barely be able to open a the door without hitting someone.

"They are trying to reach us!" Called Angie from the staircase, in her one free hand she held the phone to her ear. "The crowds are too big! The cop cars can't get through and the crowd won't budge!"

"This is insane!" yelled Marco, pulling at his hair. "Anti-mewman protestors?! I didn't even know that was a thing!"

"Son, people have always been afraid of people who come from the outside." Rafael said solemnly, his accent sounding all the heavier as he said this.

The group shrieked as another rock broke though the next window, the words '_return to sender_' on this one. Mariposa's cries became even louder, Meteora joining the other infant's shrieks as their mothers tried to soothe their equally frightened children.

"That's enough!" Glabgor growled, "I can understand hating me and the rest of us Mewman's and monsters but no one scares my family and gets away with it!"

"Too true!" agreed River, as he pushed his sleeves up, "I'm ready to show them not to mess with us Mewmans."

"Or my family." Agreed Rafael, pulling off his sleeping cap.

"Now hold it! I think we should hold tight and wait for the appropriate authorities…" Began Moon, trying to calm the men.

"No mum…" Her daughter's voice shocked Moon into silence. Star was looking down at the rock that had woken Marco and her that morning, her fingers running over its rugged surface.

"Star you can't mean to let them fight all those …" but Marco's voice died as Star looked up at him. She seemed extremely tired, not physically but her usually bright blue eyes looked dull and behind them another thing only he'd understand- guilt.

"Star I already told you it's not your fault." He whispered, cradling her hands, that still clasped the rock, between his own.

"We can't keeping lying to ourselves." She sighed, "I don't regret what happened but I can't keep hiding. This is our fault." Then in a louder voice so the adults could hear she added. "I'll go talk to them."

The chorus of protests almost rivaled those of the outside.

"It's the only way." She explained, "if Dad and Glabgor go out, they'll just take it as the Mewmans looking for a fight. But if they see me, they'll know I'll mean no harm.

"That doesn't mean they won't hurt _you_!" exclaimed Eclipsa. "You'd be in danger!"

"And yet it's the only way, right mum?" Said Star, looking at her mother's distraught face as she recognised the reasoning behind her daughter's words.

"I trust you." She finally said, earning her shocked looks from almost everyone in the room

Star tried to release her hands from Marco's but he held them in an even tighter grip then before.

"Marco, you know it's only option. If we don't do anything they'll tear down the house, we've got Meteora and Mariposa to think about!"

"And you." He whispered, tightening his grip on her hands further "I know I can't stop you." He began, as he raised his eyes, a small, knowing smile on his face. "But that doesn't mean you have to go out there alone."

Star gave him an equally as small but appreciative smile.

"Mum, keep Mariposa safe." He added releasing one of Star's hands as he turned to unlock the door.

"Right…" whispered his mother as she silently wondered, when had her little boy grown up so much?

The crowd must not have expected the Diaz's to open their front door with so many ruckusy people, they especially hadn't expected them to send out two teenagers, with messy hair and still in the pjs. Their shock was very brief however.

"She's the Mewman girl!" someone called as they resumed their chant, leaving only a hands distance between the nearest protesters and the two teens, star could almost feel their spital hit her face as they chanted.

"Guys!" began Star, but her voice was drowned by the angered cries.

She took a deep breath, as Marco squeezed her hand to give her more courage.

"Guys!" she yelled again, this time her voice resounding over the crowd and, although there cries continued, they seemed less overpowering, some had stopped to listen.

"We get it." She began, her voice getting stronger and louder with each word she managed to say, although her heart was pounding with fear and anxiety. "Humans, we truly understand your anger. A whole dimension of people, some looking pretty weird have landed on your planet, univinted. We understand, we really do, the feeling of having your home invaded, to feel that your home is in danger, for it to no longer feel safe. We lost our home but we had no right to take yours away from you.

"Trust me, I understand how angry and scared you all must be and you all have a right to hate us but, listen! Listen!" She called, and with that one word, finally, the whole crowd fell silent. Marco could even see his neighbours, who had smartly barrakaded their windows and doors because of the crowd, also spare a peak to listen to Star's speech.

Her voice faded from the air and a single sound escaped the silence that followed, the screams and shrieks of the frightened Mariposa and Meteora from inside the Diaz's house.

"Both a Mewman and an _human_ baby are staying in this house. Not just dignitaries from a world you despise but innocent babies. Hate us all you want, but does scaring two little girls make you any less terrifying than any of us mewmans?"

From behind the door the Butterflies and Diazes were silent, having heard every word Star uttered even over the shrieking babies.

Moon had a hand over her mouth, as she listened, her chest swelling with pride.

"She would have made a find queen." Commended Eclipsa, walking up behind Moon as she cradled the finally quieting Meteora.

Outside there was an uncomfortable shuffling and in the distance, at long last, the welcome siren of the police could be heard. The crowd, obviously dazed by Star's speech showed the barest reaction as the cops drove past.

"I can't believe that worked." She mumbled, releasing a breath she didn't even know she had been holding.

"That was awesome!"cheered Marco, watching the crowd move a little further up their lawn as the police car parked in front of them. He would have kissed her there and then if it weren't for all the anti-mewman spectators.

**And that's number 5 :D thank so much for reading and feel free to drop a review :)- LunaPedragon **


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